The Nighthawks find themselves on a 3-game-win streak after winning both weekend matchups against the Neepawa Titans and OCN Blizzard.
Niverville played host to the Blizzard on Sunday afternoon which turned out to be quite the contest. The teams combined for 12 goals and made things exciting for the home fans as the Nighthawks came out on top 7-5.
During the first period, OCN looked like they were going to run away with the contest as they scored once at even strength, and twice on the power play. Michael Hlady scored one of those PP goals as he snuck one past Niverville goalie Ethan Kadatz at the side of the net. The Nighthawks did manage to make it 3-1 after one period as Kennan Reyelts scored his first on the year with a highlight reel goal.
Brendan Kerr opened the scoring in the second on one of his 2 goals during the game. Ethan Kelly and Josh Paulhus had helpers on the goal making it 3-2. Desmond Johnson got the crowd on its feet as he went end to end and beat OCN netminder Chase Hamm, tying the game at 3. The two teams traded power-play goals later on in the period as the game went into the 3rd tied at 4.
Early in the final period Michael Hlady scored his second of the afternoon and gave OCN a 5-4 lead but the Nighthawks came storming back, scoring 3 unanswered goals. Brendan Kerr tied things up at 5, and then it was Eric Martin’s first as a Nighthawk that proved to be the eventual game-winner. Carson Reed provided the insurance goal on a short-handed marker with just under 5 minutes left to play.
Ethan Kadatz was solid again for the Nighthawks, stopping 31 of 36 shots, while Chase Hamm finished with 30 stops on 37 attempts.
Niverville improves to 7-6 (14pts) on the year, good enough for 4th place in the East, and OCN remains at the top of the Western Conference with an 11-4 record (23pts).